Organizations spend $1.5 trillion dollars each year, globally, on fixed and mobile telecom services. This spend represented 15% of global IT spend at 2016’s year-end and is only expected to grow.

A consistent struggle with these organizations experience is a lack of central decision-making, or awareness, regarding TEM solutions. Gartner recently released a 2017 guide to the market that illustrates benefits in all corners of telecom and technology expense management, as organizations are no doubt intrigued by the potential gains available through these platforms. Interest in TEM has soared over the past five years as expenses have increased alongside the need for budget control.

So What Happened in 2017?

According to Gartner, "many businesses recognize the need to govern telecom spending more closely," but unstructured purchase authority and insufficient knowledge of the market and evolving capabilities put interested users behind the TEM pace.

TEM Hesitations

Per a recent press release published by Timothy C. Colwell released on Telecom Reseller, titled Enterprise TEM & EMM Vendor Adoption, “In a recent AOTMP research study of 259 organizations only 53% indicated using the software and/or services of a TEM/EMM vendor. Auditing, optimization and inventory are at the heart of TEM and EMM vendor capabilities, so the moderate level of adoption of these solutions is puzzling considering the stated market importance of each activity. The most common reasons cited by organizations for not using a TEM/EMM vendor in their telecom management practice are:

The inability to justify the added expense of TEM services.

Activities are handled internally/no third party is necessary.

The belief that managing a TEM/EMM vendor and software is too much work.

On the other side of the equation, 32% of organizations using a TEM/EMM vendor solution report an increase in FTE efficiency and productivity gains because of the relationship.”

TEM Growing Gains

“Improvements in process efficiency can be directly correlated with driving real business value. For example, data extracted from an organization’s financial systems can uncover a significant amount of late payment fees and being paid for telecom invoices. Improvements in invoice processing workflow can reduce the time it takes to process invoices resulting in the elimination of late payment fees.”

What most representatives don’t realize, is that the “added expense” of telecom and technology expense management provides both hard and soft dollar returns. The ROI can be found not only in the savings pulled from avoiding various fees and negotiating best rates, but also from increased internal productivity and streamlined workflows.

Due to the nature of the telecom and technology market, IT departments have to be thorough in vetting various TEM providers to find one that can provide the perfect, right-size solution with the most support. According to the recent 2017 Gartner Report, Gartner shared that users should consider vendors based on how the vendor can provide value at scale and evaluating their proven track record by asking for examples.

What to Expect with TEM in the Next 10 Years

Technology is going to continue moving quickly which will impact that telecom and technology expense management market. Growth and specialization within TEM environments will continue boosting expenses and the need to control these costs via an intelligent TEM software or fully outsourced services will become more critical than ever.

As noted in the press release on Telecom Reseller, “Managing the service lifecycle requires people, processes, and technology to address technical, financial and operational aspects of each service. When asked about the most important activities in a telecom management practice, organizations cite auditing, optimization, and inventory as the three most important activities. To that end, telecom expense management (TEM) and enterprise mobility management (EMM) vendors offer software and services to support these and other lifecycle management activities.”

Valicom’s Vision of the Future

Valicom delivers values in every aspect of the business. Scaled TEM solutions are tailored to each organization’s individual needs. While some businesses hire TEM experts to manage the telecom and technology lifecycle, other businesses of medium to enterprise size struggle to find the right talent to manage this project in-house. Valicom continues mastering workflow automation and streamlining efficiencies with software advancements and internal project assessments.

After a quick discovery call with your Valicom representative, you will learn just about how much you can be saving by deploying a TEM solution like Valicom, with each aspect customized to your business’s unique needs.

Are you still looking into TEM’s suitability to your organization? Contact Valicom today to request a risk-free cost savings assessment and a discovery call.

About the Author: Chantel Soumis

Chantel Soumis brings over a decade of knowledge in workflow enhancement through the use of technology. Chantel studied marketing communications and business administration at Franklin University and proceeded to work in a fast, ambitious environment, assuring client delight in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. Passionate about project productivity and streamlining workflows through the use of technology, Chantel strives to inform organizations of Valicom’s advanced telecom expense management software and services by mastering communications and messaging while delivering helpful information and supporting resources.